An introductory textbook with a unique historical approach to teaching
number theory
The natural numbers have been studied for thousands of years, yet most
undergraduate textbooks present number theory as a long list of theorems
with little mention of how these results were discovered or why they are
important. This book emphasizes the historical development of number
theory, describing methods, theorems, and proofs in the contexts in
which they originated, and providing an accessible introduction to one
of the most fascinating subjects in mathematics.
Written in an informal style by an award-winning teacher, Number
Theory covers prime numbers, Fibonacci numbers, and a host of other
essential topics in number theory, while also telling the stories of the
great mathematicians behind these developments, including Euclid, Carl
Friedrich Gauss, and Sophie Germain. This one-of-a-kind introductory
textbook features an extensive set of problems that enable students to
actively reinforce and extend their understanding of the material, as
well as fully worked solutions for many of these problems. It also
includes helpful hints for when students are unsure of how to get
started on a given problem.
- Uses a unique historical approach to teaching number theory
- Features numerous problems, helpful hints, and fully worked solutions
- Discusses fun topics like Pythagorean tuning in music, Sudoku puzzles,
and arithmetic progressions of primes
- Includes an introduction to Sage, an easy-to-learn yet powerful
open-source mathematics software package
- Ideal for undergraduate mathematics majors as well as non-math majors
- Digital solutions manual (available only to professors)
